Growing up in the Pentecostal home that my parents cultivated I was charged every day to be a light to the dark world. I was encouraged to shine the light of Christ into everyone’s heart so they would see the sin around them and turn the living Savior.
One of my favorite childhood tunes went like this:
Jesus wants me for a sunbeam
To shine for him each day
In every way try to please him
At home at school at play
A sunbeam – a sunbeam
Jesus wants me for a sunbeam
A sunbeam – a sunbeam
I’ll be a sunbeam for him
I tried. I really tried. My friends listened to my stories about the love of Christ. What I discovered however, was that for every one of my stories of faith and tradition; they had one to match it. And their churches were so much older and richer in faith traditions than mine was. Judaism and Catholicism are timeless! The Pentecostal Church just started in America in the 1900s. They also came from strong faith families and they also practiced their faith ‘religiously’ in their homes. They were not faithless – it was just that their journey was different than mine.
What I have learned is that I do have a light inside me. So do you. So do you. Instead of trying to blind each other out by shining our lights in each other’s faces or showcasing our own spiritual prowess by shining the light on ourselves – if we each shine our lights forward we will be able to see the common ground we share as we move into the future.
Lydia Patrick
Beautiful words of wisdom
I’m Lydia Patrick’s brother in New York Dear Gwinnett Congregation and what she writes is true. She’s my Family with Bob and their grown children.